


bits and pieces

by influorescence



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: BONCAs 2016, Coming Out, M/M, One Shot, One Shot Collection, Short One Shot, Singapore, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-09-01 10:15:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8620615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/influorescence/pseuds/influorescence
Summary: A series of tiny moments from Dan and Phil's lives.Written for, with occasional contributions by and encouragement from my Tumblr pal oqua.





	1. presents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [oqua](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oqua/gifts).



 

**Three hours earlier**

"Dan," says Phil, peering into the empty box. "It's nice that you wanted to send your brother something, but we don't have time to go to the shops."

"We have rehearsal and the meeting with Penguin, I know," says Dan. He ruffles a hand through his hair in agitation. "Well, we must have some stuff lying around the house. Let's just see what we can find, yeah?"

Phil casts him a doubtful look and agrees in a tone that suggests he doesn't have much of a choice. Dan ignores this and bustles off to the kitchen.

 

Several days later, an unexpected package arrives at the Howell home in Wokingham. Inside are:

  * One (1) tiki-shaped glass that looks suspiciously like it belongs in a themed bar
  * One (1) paper bag containing approximately 16 vegan brownies
  * Three (3) black t-shirts, each with the title "DAN & PHIL," a depiction of the same two young men against different background designs, and a list of dates down the back



"Are they taking the piss?" the gift-ee mutters to himself.

  * One (1) papery flower crown with white and pink blossoms
  * One (1) rather ugly magnet printed with a forest green alligator and the caption "GATORLAND"
  * One (1) plastic snow globe containing a tiny model opera house with the words "SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA" across the base



The last item in the box is a Polaroid of his brother and his brother's partner—boyfriend? best friend? Phil, whatever Phil is exactly to Dan—contorting their faces into almost grotesquely ugly expressions. He flips it over to see an inscription in messy Sharpie.

 _hope you like the presents_  
_Good luck at uni! ^_^_  
_Dan x　　　Phil =)_

There is a brief silence, then a sigh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a conversation from 31 May 2016.
> 
> This will be a series of super tiny drabbles inspired by (and occasionally taken verbatim from) conversations with my Tumblr pal [oqua](https://archiveofourown.org/users/oqua/pseuds/oqua), who's been peer-pressuring me to post fic forever. Such a nasty influence, that one.


	2. angels and demons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I've spent the majority of 2016 with another person, Dan Howell—I think it's only fair that he comes up here and shares this with me."

Quiet on the cab ride home, so quiet save for the rumbling of the late-night London traffic around them. A thrum in the air, a kind of tension. Dan glancing over at him every few minutes. It's as if he can't bear to look away for too long, as if he's afraid Phil will vanish into the chill of the night the moment Dan loosens his grip on his hand.

Spilling through the door of their flat, keys jingling in Phil's hand as Dan shoves him against the nearest wall and kisses him so thoroughly his legs start to feel wobbly. Dan pressing little kisses all over his face—"You absolute spoon, I can't believe you did that, you _dork."_  Phil laughing, breathless, his tongue sticking out between his teeth, trying halfheartedly to push Dan away long enough to climb their million stairs.

"Dan—" cutting off with a huff as Dan gets his lips and teeth on Phil's neck—"Dan, we're gonna drop our awards."

Their _awards,_  one heavy in Phil's hand as he scrambles after Dan, taking the stairs two at a time, following Dan into the lounge where he's setting two of the shining metal hashtags on the mantle. Dan seizing the last one from Phil, placing it carefully in the center—Creator of the Year. Phil barely having time to think before a whirlwind of glittering silver launches itself at him and he has an armful of Dan and a hand in his soft hair and Dan's lips on his again, and he's laughing helplessly and letting himself be walked backwards into his room.

Dan whispering "I love you, I love you" over and over into Phil's skin as he takes him apart. Phil feeling the lightest he's felt in a while and so full of love he could burst at the seams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 23 nov 2016
> 
> bruh


	3. lesser gods

After years of endless chatter on the riverbanks, of the loud, unyielding drone of insects rising to a crescendo, the way it happened was almost anticlimactic.

It was commonly accepted that they were the lords of the river. Lift a finger and the water rippled, raise a voice and send a smooth wave rushing to taunt those who dared to sit by the water. All-powerful and always in control. Not a droplet out of place. 

The truth was far less impressive.

They tested the waters, of course they did, but it was less a careful wading into the shallow end, more the slip of a foot and a butt-first flop into the deep end, followed by various splashing attempts to escape or acclimate to the sudden shock of cold. Two water-slowed steps forward, a shriek and a stumble back. Slowly, slowly, haphazardly. A liveshow together one week. Phil in Dan's video the next. A hand on the back here, a stare too long there, a cheeky suggestion, a creeping blush. Always ready to pull back from the garter snake under that patch of algae, the snapping turtle hidden behind those rushes.

They inched forward. The water was already sun-warmed by the time they made it in–blink and you'd miss it–Phil pressed a quick kiss to Dan's cheek and headed downstairs to refill their glasses.

It was a bright, cloudless day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 7 april 2017
> 
> 2017 is going to be wild


	4. the sun and the sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an aquarium in singapore.

the glass above is so clear they might as well be in the water. it's like they're in some other world, aqua-tinted and muffled and glittering. fish dart all around, flashes of bright color and flickers of light. two rays flutter gently by on a current. a shark makes its way slowly overhead, its movements predatory and elegant, and phil's struck by the graceful motion of dan tilting his head back to watch. almost without realizing, as if wading through a dream, phil raises his phone and captures the moment.

later, bone-tired and lazy, they're trawling their camera rolls for internet-worthy photos. an offering of chum to the teeming schools, intimidating in their sheer numbers. keep your hands, feet, and secrets inside the boat at all times.

phil pauses on the one with dan and the shark.

is it really so obvious?

rays of water-refracted light fan out in a halo around dan's curls. the smooth body of the shark overhead curves gracefully around the line of dan's face. it dares not touch, but it's drawn in—helpless, devoted, worshipful—icarus to a watery sun. if dan reached out, god extending a hand, would it swim down, right out of the water?

"when'd you take that? it's pretty."

phil blinks and is back in the hotel room. the air conditioning unit hums noisily. everything is cast in an amber lamp-glow. dan is slumped next to him on the bed, leaning against phil's thigh to get a look at the screen.

"when we were in the tunnel."

"you gonna post it?" dan turns his head to look up at phil. there's an unfathomable look in dan's dark eyes.

is it really so obvious that phil loves him?

"yeah."

a beat, and then dan smiles and leans up to kiss him gently on the lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 12 april 2017
> 
> literally just an excuse to be extra about [this post](https://www.instagram.com/p/BSyH5N_hc_H/)


End file.
